The Hofmann group celebrates its 40th anniversary with the opening of its second boutique pastry shop, beginning a new stage that aims to take the Barcelona brand beyond the city that has seen it grow. "This is the first of other openings to come, not only in Barcelona," says its president, Silvia Hofmann, daughter of Mey Hofmann, who started the family business focused on culinary training and has been expanding its area of influence. "But Hofmann has always been very linked to the Barcelona brand and always will be," she adds.
The new establishment is located on Avenida Pau Casals, just above Plaza Francesc Macià, and has an area of 100 square meters. Hofmann was interested in reaching the upper area of Barcelona, after detecting demand from a more local public for whom the Born pastry shop, on Flassaders street, where international consumers abound, is too far away.
With this opening, the company expects the pastry shops to double their turnover, going from 1.4 million euros in 2022 to 3 million euros in 2024. With a turnover of 6 million euros in 2022, the pastry leg represents 23% of total revenue.
To face the expansion, as well as to respond to the high demand they already had in the Born pastry shop, Hofmann has expanded the workshop it has on Via Laietana and Abaixadors street, which has grown by 60%, and more staff have been hired. Now, a total of 47 workers will be dedicated to production and sales in the pastry area, started 15 years ago with the opening in Flassaders. The team dedicated to transport has also grown, taking into account that the new pastry shop will receive products from the city center twice a day.
Hofmann's second boutique pastry shop will feature the same products as the one in Born, including classics like the butter croissant (2.20 euros) and the mascarpone croissant (4 euros). It will have other pastry products, with more varieties of croissant, but also pastry products and sweets such as plum cakes (12 euros), boxes of chocolates (10 euros), chocolate bars (7.50 euros), cookie packs (14.50 euros), and granola (10.50 euros). For those who want to go home for an afternoon snack, they can take a large sachet of hot chocolate (9.50 euros). In Born, 750 croissants are sold daily, reaching 22,000 monthly and rising to 30,000 units when the rest of the pastries are added, figures that are hoped to be matched on Avenida Pau Casals.
It will not be the only new opening Hofmann foresees for the coming years. The next stop will be Madrid, where they expect to arrive in 2024. The expansion to the capital of Madrid will involve locating a production center like the one they have in Born, in addition to starting with two boutique pastry shops. The international expansion of the Barcelona group is also on the table, with plans still to be finalized.
The expansion to the capital of Madrid will involve opening a second production centerWith the beginning of this new phase of pastry shop expansion, the group maintains the rest of the areas of the gastronomy sector where it is present. On one hand, the restaurant on Granada del Penedès street, with a Michelin star, where teachers and students from the cooking and pastry school founded by Mey Hofmann in 1983 work. With the pandemic, the group decided to close the other restaurants it had, not focused on training.In 2022, the company managed to recover pre-pandemic revenue.
Likewise, the training center now has more than 20,000 students throughout its 40 years. Each year, a thousand students are trained. One half are concentrated in professional programs, designed for profiles starting in the sector or wanting to specialize, while the other half try short courses, aimed at a more amateur audience. In addition, the group chaired by Silvia Hofmann also develops consultancies for culinary businesses and has a catering service. In total, the group's workforce is close to one hundred employees.